Reco: The Tale of a Warpstar Knight - Fan Fiction

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 12
Interception[/size][/align]

<Subject>
Prisoner 439 status and analyses report
<Date>
July 3rd, 2556 Local Universe Time (LUT)
<Time>
2200 Hours Standard Zulu Time (SZT)
<From>
Commander Rayne Staten
Shadow Sword Army (SSA) Cruiser Black Garment
<Two messages attached>

<Message One>
Commander-in-Chief,
I'm sorry to report that Prisoner 439 AKA possible Light Caster has escaped while the Black Garment was attacked by a rebellion ship soon to be known as the Great Fox. How 439 escaped is still being researched, but current analyses say the he used a Plasma Knife to cut out of his metal chair cuffs, and sabotaged the Black Garment's engines. Repairs are still underway on the engines, and the escape pod that unaccounted for after the battle (which we suspect was 439's escape vehicle) was not found in local space or on the nearest planet, we suspect the Great Fox has picked it up. We are tracking the Great Fox and will intercept when located.

Even though Prisoner 439 has escaped, the 48 hours that we had him our analyses on him gave us these results:
• Prisoner 439 IS a Light Caster, making his role in this invasion vital to our success
• Energy levels in 439s body were read on a scale to be as powerful as a 5 suns with the measurements at 4.2353 million Kilowatts of energy. He could light a large city for decades.
• His recent location was Hyrule, and the supporting evidence is the facts that there are only two ways into the Twilight Realm. One way is, of course, our way which is the Dimensional Portal that we obtained on Planet Zurich and the other is the Twilight Mirror (which we can conclude was destroyed) that links to Hyrule.

To answer one of your questions already, no, we can't use the Dimensional Portal to access Hyrule. Hyrule is a dimension, and as the name goes, the Twilight Realm is just a realm residing within that same dimension, for further details, contact R.T. Sykes, he is a technician on the Dimensional Portal and can explain more of that. The reason on why we can't open the portal in Hyrule is unknown.
<End Message One>

<Message Two>
Once we regain power to the Black Garment we will follow the slip-space tracks that the Great Fox left in slip-space. We are assembling a boarding party to enter the ship, capture 439, and destroy the Great Fox on extraction. We are also preparing a device to harness 439s energy and shoot it through the main cannons of the Black Garment. This power could easily destroy planets if need be, and can quickly turn our invasion into a takeover. We need assistance in performing this operation so the Great Fox will be distracted by two cruisers and not notice the boarding party infiltrating the ship until it's too late. Please relay this message to the closest and most battle-ready to meet us and coordinates 23-476-77U at 0600 hours SZT on July 10th. Our planned date of attack is July 12th.
<End Message Two>
<End All Message>

<Subject>
Mushroom Kingdom Invasion
<Date>
July 4th, LUT
<Time>
1634 hours SZT
<From>
Commander Koop Higgs
SSA cruiser Broken Arrow
<One Message Attached>

<Message One>
Commander-in-Chief

I'm pleased to report that together the Broken Arrow and Spirit Hammer forces have successfully overthrown the Mushroom Kingdom, and plan to continue the siege on the rest of the planet. Any remaining civilian has surrendered, or has escaped through the various portals at a tourist station. Only one portal was found operational and was linked to a planet call Warpstar (currently under siege, but succeeding). I also want to say that the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom was captured and soon following the Mario brothers after their failed attempt to rescue their Princess.

We are currently making our move at a small town of Rogueport but this town is linked to a larger area which may be useful as a planet side base. Low resistance was encountered one initial strike, and not much more is expected.
<End Message One>
<End All Message>

Slippy Toad finished reading the intercepted messages from the SSA, and saved them in a file. A feeling of concern covered him as he realized their new passenger, Reco, meant much, much more to this war.
--------------------------------------------------
Anybody that is reading this, please respond at least once to let me know who's reading and who's not. Thanks

 

[Kirby]

Cheesier alert! But about the only one!

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 14[/size]
[size=x-large]Losing It All, Gaining Something Else[/size][/align]

Reco slept like charm that night, the party was great, and the thought of accomplishing something felt good. The only question that filled Reco's mind was why? Why does Wolf and his gang attack when there is a bigger threat out there? It was the only that invaded Reco's dreams. He woke up to still have them unanswered.

There is no morning in space, so you go to bed whenever you feel like it, and wake up whenever you wake yourself up, or if the alarm goes off for any reason necessary. Reco got out of his bed and walked directly to the bridge, where everybody just congregates to in the "morning". It still seemed that nobody was up yet; accept for ROB, who was staring out the display emotionless. Reco sat in a chair, still half asleep, and gazed up at the ceiling. Buttons flashed and beeped with no explanation in the bridge, which often started to get on Reco's nerves. He looked over at the galactic map to see where the Great Fox was currently positioned. The map displayed a gold dotâ€â€Âwhich was the Great Foxâ€â€Âin the stellar galaxy, very close to Warpstar.

Thoughts of home soon flooded Reco's half asleep mind, the calm of day and beautiful landscape. He thought of what his parents were up too, most likely worrying about him, and living a slightly normal life. It's been about a month since Reco left the planet, Reco was supposed to be home about 10 days ago, getting ready for college. College was going to have to wait. Plans were set already: 5 years in training to become an official Warpstar Knight, then, it was off to get a job at the Mushroom kingdom as a guard. That was why Reco went there to begin with, to get a feel for the place, and to become familiar with the surroundings. The job was going to pay well, since there were increasing threats from surrounding hostile forces.

What would it be like if Reco didn't go to the Mushroom kingdom that day? If he didn't go that day, then he would be stuck at home because the portal would've been deactivated. How much would've changed? Would he have just watch the war go on from a distance?

Reco's thoughts were interrupted by ROB

"Picking up contact on radar." He stated.

"What is it?" Reco asked, it better not be Wolf again.

"Unable to identify object, it is small, and doesn’t impose a threat" ROB responded loyally.

"Can you get a view of it?" Reco asked.

"Affirmative, displaying now…" ROB replied

The image of a small star shaped craft went on screen. The ship instantly reminded Reco of home. It was a Warpstar Space Transport Vehicle (WSTV). The driver inside was a friend of Reco's: Kirby.

"Let him in! I know him!" Reco said. What the heck is he doing out here?

The alarm blared to indicate the cargo bay was opening up, and ROB flipped a switch that signaled Kirby to come in. Within a minute, everybody was on the bridge. Reco explained who he was letting in. Kirby parked his tiny little craft amongst the large, fully armed Arwings; a WSTV was only used for transporting one Warpstarian, and nothing more, so it was a very small vehicle. Reco ran up to Kirby and immediately they asked the same question,

"What are you doing here?"

"I'll start," Reco started, "after being at Hyrule, the Twilight Realm and a SSA ship, I finally wound up here." Kirby understood since he heard of the attacks on the mushroom kingdom.

"Me next," Kirby said, "Reco…" he paused, and a look of dread flooded his face. "Warpstar was attacked by the SSA."

Reco gasped, he stepped back, feeling dazed of what he just heard. Was it true? It couldn't be true! He thought to himself over and over again.

"I did what I could, but I had to run. They quickly overpowered us. Our city was destroyed before 30 minutes." Kirby said.

"Do know what happened to my parents?" Reco exclaimed.

"…No, I don't." Kirby sighed.

Reco knew what he had to do. Find his parents and get them to safety

"I need to go." Reco looked at Fox, he already made the command to ROB.

It took about 30 minutes to get to Warpstar. Reco flew down in his Arwing as soon as the Great Fox entered orbit. The place he knew as home was now rubble. As soon as Reco jumped out of his Arwing, he saw destruction everywhere. The city was deserted; the SSA must've not seen a need to stay. He wandered through the streets, shedding tears for every Warpstarian he saw lie on the ground dead. His favorite store, his favorite restaurant, the whole city, reduced to rubble. Reco came upon his parents' house. He quickly went through the debris in search of his parents. Kirby and the Star Fox crew soon came to find him throwing chunks of crumble building aside. After a few minutes, Reco froze.

The bodies of two Warpstarians lie on the ground next to each other. They were quickly recognized as his parents.

Reco burst into tears. He hugged his passed-away parents and fell to the floor. They must've been with each other when they passed, and they were probably thinking of him. Kirby started to approach Reco when Krystal stopped him.

"I feel anger and hate coming from him, a power that is strong is coming loose."

She motioned everybody to stand back, and soon after Reco's eyes was filled with electricity of lightning. He yelled at the top of his lungs and it seemed that light itself faded from the area. Bolts of light pierced the air. Reco lost himself in rage and caused day to turn to night.

He soon fell back down to the ground and light returned to normal. He continued to sob when Kirby approached and knelt beside him.

"I understand." Reco said

"Understand what?" Kirby replied.

"I understand that it's my fate to suffer to prevent others from suffering." Reco murmured.

Reco buried what was his family that day. He bid them a final farewell and left back to the Great Fox. Kirby said his goodbye's to Reco and went on his way to another planet, which was still unharmed by the SSA.

Reco the Light Caster was awakened that day.

 

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 15
Unintentional Assistance[/size][/align]

For the next few days, Reco stayed quiet. No one wanted to disturb him knowing the loss that he went to, and the energy he expelled too. Krystal obviously knew about this power that Reco holds inside of him from the time that the team pulled him out of the escape pod. She warned Fox about it, and everybody else. Soon after he saw his passed parents, Kirby told him that his parentsâ€â€Âand Kirby himselfâ€â€Âknew about his powers. Why did they keep it a secret? Were they even planning on telling Reco? Reco connected the dots when his parents were more cautious when he moved out; they were making sure that he didn't cause an accident.

Reco studied himself. He wondered on whatever this whole "Light Caster" was capable of doing. Before he could learn anything, he jumped into the Twilight Realmâ€â€Âunintentionallyâ€â€Âand then all of the sudden, he was in Rayne's hands, and then he was here. If only he was able to stop for a moment and at least try to tap the surface of the "power". He sat on his bed, and closed his eyes. He focused in on himself, looking in on anything that could possibly trigger something.

Then it happened. It seemed like a bolt of lightning began to wrap around Reco's hands. He stared at it, and waved around. It wasn't something electrocuting him, it was something he was emitting. He then focused on a wall, and punched in that direction. Sure enough, the lighting shot from his hands loyally and struck the wall. Luckily there wasn't anything there that was burned or damaged, badly. He wanted to test this power a little more, but he was in too small a place, and he could damage something.

The comm. panel in Reco's room dinged as someone called his room.

"Reco?" It was Fox, as always.

"Yes?"

"You need to see this." Fox said distressfully.

"Alright, on my way." Reco replied. The comm. panel clicked off.

Reco jumped from his bed and walked to the door, which gracefully slid open, but when Reco walked through and the door began to shut, the door sparked and failed. Something clicked in his mind telling him that he caused that. When He got to the bridge, the first thing he saw was a large SSA cruiser, inactive. Closer looks showed that it was infiltrated, and taken from the inside.

"There is no presence of life in the cruiser." ROB said as if he read Reco's mind.

"They just cleaned house and moved on!" Falco exclaimed. He was right, whoever these were, they sure didn't want to stay when they were finished. There seemed to be heavy collateral damage, a few sections of the ship seemed to have lost air.

"I want a look inside." Reco demanded.

"Suit yourself." Fox sighed. "You'll need a suit though; most of the ship has no air."

* * *

Once the boarding hatch was locked, Reco, Fox and Krystal ventured inside. The suit that Slippy designed for Reco was actually very comfortable, although it did slow down movement a lot. The ship was definitively dead. There were signs of firefights everywhere. Whoever took this ship really had a tough time doing so. Only a few lights within the ship were still functioning, the emergency lights took over the rest. SSA soldiers of all kinds were lying dead in the ships, or rather, floating if the section was blown open. There were a few objects scattered across the ship that didn't look anything like SSA equipment. There was a grenade that had a jet on the back of it! Reco clipped it to his suit to look at later.

"I've found the files for the cameras." Fox's voice made a break in the silence that made Reco jump. "Downloading them now."

Reco continued his journey. Step by step he walked through bunks, which housed some SSA soldiers, some died in their sleep. One thing Reco noticed as he bounced around the ship was the fact that no matter what they were doing, the soldiers were wearing their armor. When they were eating, there was an open mouth section, but the helmet didn't come off. It was as if the soldiers were bound to their armor as soon as they joined the SSA. Not even the leaders of the SSA kept armor on that held their appearance. The other thing that Reco noticed as he looked at the carnage was the bullet entry areas of each kill. They were all hitting in the heart, legs, chest or back. The wounds where never scattered around the body, or directed to the head. Whoever took these guys out knew that the SSA soldiers wore reinforced helmets, and to aim for other vital parts. The legs must've been to knock them down then finish the job. These exterminators where professional marksmen. Reco looked around and saw a handgun that looked different from the others that were scattered around the ship. Reco picked it up and studied it. It had a large barrel, a large ring was looped around the trigger, and a clip was fed into the gun. Reco removed the clip and tapped it until a bulletâ€â€Ânoâ€â€Âa shell fell out of the clip.

"It's a shotgun!" Slippy exclaimed. His high shrill voice ringing through the earpiece hurt. "It's so small, and the shells are different from the average energy shells that are issued to Cornerian troops. You'll need to bring it in so I can look into it."

"It doesn't even look like it uses energy shells, Slippy." Reco replied, "It looks like the shells use gunpowder."

"That's weird," Fox said, "the Cornerian Army stopped using gunpowder ammunition quite a few years back."

"It's not even Cornerian." Reco said back, even though he had little experience with Cornerian arms.

The conversation ended there and Reco carried on. The engine room was the last interesting thing in the ship. Instead of just being shot dead it blown up, from the looks of it, this was the work of a Rocket Launcher. After Reco examined the damage, he made his way back to the Great Fox.

* * *

"The name of the SSA cruiser is the Broken Hammer, and from the looks of the messages it received shortly before its takeover, another cruiser, the Spirit Hammer, suffered the same fate." Slippy announced. "I've also can conclude that with the destruction of these two ships, the planet that the Mushroom Kingdom rest on is now no longer under complete control of the SSA, only the ground troops are remaining, and the Cornerian Army is already on their way to aid the Mushroom Kingdom Army and take them out. Also, Princess Peach and the Mario Brothers were freed before transported onto on of the cruisers." He finished.

Reco felt pleased to hear this. To hear a planet almost liberated was music to his ears. Everyone on the Great Fox soon started to camera recordings to see exactly who stopped these SSA ships.

There was no action until 2:30 LUT. There was a sudden burst in one of the boarding air locks. Four armored soldiers jumped out. All faces were hidden behind helmets, but Reco could easily tell that all but one were human. Their armor didn't look sinister like the SSA's, but powerful and protective. There was armor plating was in different sections over the body, with camouflage flexible, thinner armor underneath. They had what seemed to be a battery pack on their backs, most likely supplying a HUD or air or anything. The helmet looked like it could hold extra air inside incase of a loss of air. They all held the same rifles, none of which were found on the Broken Hammer. These soldiers moved like the wind. The stopped at each corner and made clear of any threat. Their actions were sudden when they came across their first encounter. Each of them firing almost simultaneously, dropping enemy soldiers one by one. The soldier that stood point the whole time was most likely the squad leader. At one point he ordered the non-human member to shoot a rocket into the engine room. The soldier took a Rocket Launcher from it's back, and lifted it to shoulder level. Reco then noticed how enormous that Launcher was. It seemed that could hold 4 rockets and billowed where the rockets were stored. It would seem superhuman if someone actually was holding that monster. The soldier fired in engine room and there was a large blast. Obviously the Broken Arrow just lost engine power.

Right then, a SSA soldier ran up to the soldier behind the rest. As if he saw it coming, the soldier spun around in time to grab the SSA soldier. The man quickly twisted the SSA's arms and kicked him in the gut. The SSA stepped back and the soldier pulled a handgun that Reco quickly recognized to be the shotgun. The SSA quickly did a kick and the shotgun was tossed behind him. The soldier responded by jabbing the SSA like lighting, spun, and then kicked the SSA in the face. The SSA fell to the floor, not moving ever again. Reco heard Fox mutter a comment on the soldier's agility.

"You all right, Reigor?" The soldier at point said.

"Yea, I'm alright, Stanworth." Reigor must've said. "When will you call me by my first name?"

"I don't know, it's a habit, remember?" Stanworth replied.

The soldiers moved on. Reco looked at the Shotgun that lay on Slippy's desk, if he could come across this Reigor, he should return his gun.

The same thing happened for the next few minutes: These soldiers running through and taking out the ship section by section. When they got to the bridge, Stanworth was met head-on with a SSA. Stanworth swung his rifle and hit the SSA with the butt of his rifle. It made contact and the SSA flew back easily five feet. That proved that these humans and one non-human were stronger than your average people. Stanworth and the unidentified human soldier knelt down and fired grenades from their rifle attachments into the room. After the bang, the room was clear. The four soldiers walked around the room, checking the room for any live enemy presence. After thirty seconds, they all said "clear". Reigor walked up to the camera and spoke loud and clearly:

"For any of you SSA idiots that may be watching, we just took over YOUR ship and I must say…I was expecting more!" There must've been sarcasm in his tone for he laughed once he was done. The non-human soldier gave him a high-five and they waited, the unknown human soldier watched a display on his wrist.

"They comin' yet Sam?" Reigor addressed the unknown human by his first name.

"Yep, get ready." Sam replied, they all ready they're rifle. Reco looked at the other monitors; the remaining SSA soldiers were dashing towards the bridge.

It was a trap, and the soldiers must've have radars, because as soon as the SSA soldiers neared the bridge, the four launched grenade to the halls. Most of the SSA's dropped and the remainder held back and lobbed grenades. The soldiers leapt back and were unaffected by the bombs. They quickly regrouped.

"Reigor, Dean! Air Fist round! Angle them to take out the rest!" Stanworth barked. Reigor and Samâ€â€Âlast name Deanâ€â€Âquickly detached their rifle attachments and slid a new one in place. Then they release the front clip (which is concluded to be where the attachment ammo is held) and the clip holder then attached a new clip holder and clip. They stood at the doors at an angle in which they were more lined up with the SSA's out in the hall. They both pulled the trigger and almost immediately to burst erupted in the hall. A non-lethal shockwave knocked the soldiers down. Before they could regain their senses they were finished by Stanworth and the non-human.

"Let's get out of here, team." Stanworth said. The rest nodded. Within two minutes, the four were back at their insertion point.

"Good job Reigor, Dean, Kignar." Stanworth said. Kignar must've been the non-human's last name. They piled into the hatch and that was the last everybody saw of them. All at once everybody watching the video said "wow".

 

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 16
Liberation[/size][/align]

<Incoming Message>
FROM: Fox Mcloud, Great Fox
TO: Capt. Jerald Nocks, Golden Shield
SUBJECT: Liberation Aid
ATTACHMENT: Picture
<Start Message>

The crew of the Great Fox has agreed to help you in the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the planet's liberation. Of course, I come to you first to ask for our permission to help. If the situation is covered, and you are not in need of assistance, then please say so. The crew has come up with a plan already however, if you accept our aid.

Me, and our newest recruit, Reco, will take to the ground and assist your troops along with any other troops in the main areas of combat. I have sent an attachment of Reco's photo so you can identify him. The rest of the crew will take to the skies. They will make bomb runs, and destroy enemy fighters, but all bomb runs will be authorized by ground troops, to ensure no friendly deaths.

Please respond to this request A.S.A.P. We will go to action as soon as permission is granted, if granted.

Fox Mcloud

<Attachment>
<End Message>

* * *

Reco was rather pleased that the request for aid was accepted. He considered it to be a proper way to practice his Light Caster powers and somewhat "show off". He was placed in the Mushroom Kingdom, while Fox was placed in Rogueport. Reco zapped a SSA soldier with his powers and watched the soldier fall to the ground. He felt like he was getting the hang of things as another soldier dropped to the ground. Reco also packed the hand shotgun, which he soon found was called the K1C3R 52, from the engraved name on the side. Slippy and ROB examined the shotgun and made more ammo for it, making a few gunpowder-shelled clips, but mostly plasma, due mainly to the fact that gunpowder was harder to get. The shotgun was not like any other, since it had a clip. The clip was fed into the top, and a large ring rounded the trigger, which Slippy concluded was the way to reload the camber. There was also a recoil suppressor, so if Reco shot it, his hand wouldn't fly off.

Reco came across the city that he first went to. Soon after walking around, he saw the hotel he checked into about a month ago. Curious, he decided to go take a look. He was forced to blow open the doors when they refused to open on their own. The first thing that caught Reco's eyes was crates, lots of crates. They weren't there when Reco was here. When he approached a crate he saw the symbols SSA with a black sword crossing through the logo. The Cornerian troops needed to know about this.

"This is Reco." He said pressing a button on his communication watch, "I found what is most likely a weapons storage for the SSA at the Mushroom City Hotel." He waited for an answer as he jumped up on one of the crates.

"Affirmative, we're on our way." A voice crackled over the line. Now he just needs to wait, and make sure the storage gets secure.

It seemed like 10 minutes went by when Reco started hearing noises from outside. He jumped off the crate that he was sitting on and started walking towards the entrance. Before he could say anything a grenade was lobbed into the room. On reaction Reco jumped back and got behind a table that was knocked on its side. As the grenade went off, a squad of SSA soldiers entered the room. With their rifles at aim, they looked around the room. They must've intercepted Reco's transmission, or it was the SSA that intercepted it in the first place. Reco hid behind the table, hoping that there were Cornerian troops on the way. He focused energy into his hands, and tried his hardest to possibly get more energy. He was concentrating as hard as he can until he heard someone say "check behind the table!"

This was it; he was going to do what he could do. He jumped up, clapped his hands together and let the energy go. A large bolt of energy soared through the air, hitting about 3 soldiers on the way. Reco himself was pushed back by the energy, and somewhat surprised at the same time. The rest of the living 14 soldiers retaliated and started spraying bullets and plasma down range at Reco. He jumped back behind the table and tried to charge more energy again. For some reason, the energy wasn't coming, it must be somewhat depleted and needs time to recharge. Reco looked to his side, and saw a crate. He reached over and pulled as hard as he could to get it over behind the table. A bullet skimmed his arm and he groaned at the pain but kept pulling. Once it was behind the table, he put it on its side and knocked the top of it off with K1C3R shotgun. He saw that it stored grenades, and rifle ammunition, but the grenades were good enough. He pulled the pin to one of the grenades, cooked it and lobbed it as the SSAs. The grenade blew up in mid-air, and killed a few of the soldiers. He peeked around the table and made a quick count of the remaining soldiers: 9, there were still too many. He got another grenade, which looked different, pulled the pin, cooked it and lobbed in the middle of the soldiers position. The grenade went off, but not with and explosion.

What the heck!? Reco thought to himself. The room started filling up with smoke. It was a smoke grenade. The room was filled with smoke, and the soldiers became confused, they just started suppressing fire in Reco's direction. Reco took the opportunity to get out from behind the table. He took two grenades and another smoke grenade and stuffed them into his backpack. He ran from behind the table, and dashed around the soldiers, or at least he thought he was, the smoke was very dense, but the flashes from the guns gave him a relative idea. He was running from the soldiers when he ran into the front welcome desk. The smoke was starting to clear, so he jumped behind it. As the room cleared of smoke the SSA soldiers stopped firing. The table that Reco was hiding behind was full of holes, and there was nothing behind it. The spun around and looked for Reco, they split up and approached every possible cover. Reco pulled the K1C3R from its holstered (made by Fox), and got it ready to fire. He held it up and got ready to fight. As a soldier walked up to the desk, Reco jumped up on top of it, before the soldier could react Reco pulled the trigger. The SSA lurched back and fell to the ground, a point blank shot. The rest of the soldiers looked at him and started to fire. Reco jumped back behind the desk and felt his heart beating faster than ever, that moment scared hi when he felt the heat of the bullets whiz past his head.

Then a grenade landed right in front of him, pin pulled. Reco felt his heart skip a beat. Without thinking Reco sucked up the grenade and thought of what would happen when he swallowed it. The copy ability of Grenade Ability took him and the next thing he knew he had a grenade launcher for an arm. Reco smiled brightly as he looked at the grenade launching beauty. His dark gray arm hand a large hole at the end and a charge release system to launch grenades farther. He decided to jump over to the side of the desk, where they wouldn't expect him to go, and he released a trio of grenades. The SSA ran in fear as they saw impact explosion grenades fly towards them and they dove out of the way, but some of them were two late. Only 4 were left when Reco looked back around the counter. He was ready to make another move when Cornerian troops entered the room, punching holes in the confused SSA troops.

Now they come. Reco thought.

"Reco, come in!" Fox's voice called through Reco's wrist communicator.

"Yea, what is it?" Reco replied.

"How are you doing on your end?" He asked.

"Well, I found a weapon storage for the SSA, but not much else, I don't know how the rest of the area is doing though." Reco explained.

"Actually, the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom area is clear, sir." The squad leader of the Cornerian troops interrupted. Great, Reco sighed. He missed most of the action being stuck in a hotel.

"Thank you." Fox said. "Reco, we need you back at the Great Fox." The news struck Reco like a rock.

"What, why? I'm not done here!" Reco retorted.

"There was a message intercepted from the SSA that concerns you." Fox explained. "You need to see it yourself."

"But I can see for myself here! Just message it to me!" Reco exclaimed.

"There's more to it. Just go Reco, you'll understand later." Fox finished.

Reco groaned. He wanted to continue to fight. The Mushroom Kingdom may be liberated, but there are most likely other places swarming with SSA. He couldn't argue with fox though. The message must be important if he needed to go to the Great Fox for it. He sighed one last time and headed for his Arwing.

 

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 17
Melton[/size][/align]

Melton stepped into Hyrule square. It's been about a month since he's come to the peaceful land of Hyrule, and nothing much has happened, except for the loss of his new friend, Reco. Melton, Link, Princess Zelda, and the Sages of the Twilight Mirror frantically searched the stone slab that Reco was "sucked" into. After about 3 days of continuous searching, they were forced to give in and go home, except for the sages. The chamber was their home, and they wanted further investigation on the matter. All Melton could do is sit and wait.

It was odd that Hyrule was yet not even threatened from the black-armored soldiers. For some odd reason, they just couldn't find it, or so they think. Since the portal to the Mushroom Kingdom was shut down, Melton was cut off from the rest of the universe. This was something else that Melton didn't understand about Hyrule. It was still…middle aged. Even with access to the modern world, Hyrule denied advancing…at all. At the portal to Hyrule, guards check anyone coming through to make sure that they didn't hold technology. This always confused Melton, but if a colony doesn't want to come to the modern world, so be it.

Melton sat on the fountain in center Hyrule square. A few kids talk amongst themselves, telling stories of Hyrule's past, from Zelda coming to power, to an imp riding a wolf through the town, scaring everyone away. He gazed over at the Malo Mart, as always since Melton came, the store was bustling with customers and every that came out was carrying a bag with the face of this "Malo" on it, and singing a jingle: "You were smart! You bought it at Malo Mart!" Melton sighed, and gazed up at the sky. There were no clouds out today. He started to look back down to see a large being made almost all of rock staring at him. It was a Goron, as Zelda once told him. Once Melton made eye contact with the rock creature, it quickly looked away and stared into space. It must be the big mushroom head, Melton thought, and looked back down to the town. When his eyes made ground level, the mask of a sage of the Twilight Mirror was staring into his face.

"Whoa!" Melton yelped and nearly fell back into the fountain.

"Sorry to scare you, but we may have found something." The sage bowed before Melton. "Please, come."

The sage grabbed Melton and together they vanished. The next thing he knew, Melton was at the Twilight Chamber. He quickly felt himself, making sure he came in one piece. It was cloudy, and it felt extremely humid; conditions for rain. A moment later, two more sages popped up, one holding Princess Zelda, one holding Link. Melton saw Link pat himself in surprise, making sure he came in one piece.

"Why did you find?" Zelda quickly asked. A sage floated to the side of the large stone slab that stood tall in the chamber. He patted it and began.

"Well, after many days of research, and focusing, we may have found a way to get one of you into the Twilight Realm." The sage started. Link's face lit up. "The current weather conditions make the slab of Twilight act up in ways where energy from it is emitted." He paused to catch his breath. "With the energy that young Reco used to get into the Twilight Realm, we may be able to harness it, and create a temporary warp."

Melton grinned. He looked over and saw Link's face beaming. Melton heard that Link was fond of someone in the Twilight Realm, so maybe he thinks of it as a chance for a reunion. Melton looked over the black slab. It was steaming, most likely a result of the humidity and heat, like when something gets wet, and steams because it gets hot. The humid air was the explanation. Then, he felt rain. It started and picked up fast. Soon enough, it was pouring. Nobody did anything, mainly since they didn't expect rain. As the stone slab got drenched, it steamed even more, indicating that it must be more than 100 degrees Celsius. The sages took note of this quickly.

"Ah!" One of them gasped, "It seems this rain makes it even more conditioned for transport! We should get started right away!

All the sages gathered around the temple, they raised they're arms, making the arising steam become concentrated. They then gathered in one area, and pulled the steam or "energy" to the front of the slab, lined up with the mirror alter. Then they pushed the energy against the slab and condensed it again, spinning it around as if they wanted to drill a hole into the massive rock. Melton watched with amazement as the steam started glowing brightly. Soon enough, a portal came to life in front of them.

"You must hurry! We can't hold this portal open for long!" One of the mages calmly shouted. Princess Zelda looked at Link, and then winced.

"Why do you have that Link!?" Zelda shouted, staring at the hilt of his sheathed sword. Melton looked at it to notice it was different. It wasn't the Ordon sword that he showed Melton before, it had a blue hilt, finely designed with to wings coming out the side, and there was a glowing gem between the two wings.

It was the Master Sword, the design of the hilt alone matched perfectly to the description Zelda gave him.

Link looked back at his sword, he looked down, and shrugged. Melton guessed he shouldn't have it. Zelda's look of anger quickly melted to thought.

"You shouldn't have that, but at least you can go with me." She said. Link's face beamed once more. Melton walked over to them, wanted to join them.

"Can I go, too?" He asked, Zelda looked down to him, and smiled.

"I'm sorry, but you can't." She murmured. "Only beings that have the ability to handle the Twilight or have an object that counters the Twilight can go." She said with disappointment. Melton felt displeased, but then realized something.

"Can Reco handle the Twilight?" He asked.

Zelda looked up in thought, the idea must've not hit her before.

"Hurry!" A sage strained, "We can't hold this much longer!"

"I don't know, I hope so." She replied, and jumped through the portal. Link nodded to Melton, and followed the Princess.

The portal closed.

Melton stood in front of the stone slab, disappointed. The sages floated down beside him.

"I'm sorry you couldn't go, you must want to see your friend." He tried to comfort him. Melton looked back up to the sky, remembering when he first met him on the tour bus. He had no idea that Reco and him would be in this situation.

"…Would you like to go back to the Town Square?" A sage asked.

"Yea…" Melton said, now in thought. In an instant, Melton was grabbed by the hand, and whisked to Hyrule Town Square. Melton looked around. A few people stared at him, wondering where he came from, but for the most part, the town remained in its bustling state. Melton then thought of the Mushroom Kingdom, was it still taken over? An idea struck his mind, but he was going to wait for night to put this plan to action

* * *

That night, Melton walked to the Mushroom Kingdom portal. It still remained off so Hyrule couldn't be invaded. The portal guard stood at the gate, seeing Melton as he walked up.

"Can I help you?" he asked one hand on his sword.

"Actually, yes." Melton started. He wondered if he should say this. "Can you open the portal for me?"

The guard jumped somewhat. He looked at Melton with a curious glare and then looked at the portal.

"Are you kidding me?" The guard said. The reaction was expected as much by Melton.

"Yes, I want to see if the Mushroom Kingdom is still overrun. Can you open it for me?" Melton said. He knew wasn't getting anywhere fast.

"No, there could be enemies waiting for us to open this portal!" The guard retorted. Melton thought for a moment, and then he came up with an idea.

"Then let's make a deal." He said.

The guard perked up. "What kind of deal?"

"Open the portal," Melton started, "when I go through, wait 30 seconds, if I don't come back saying that it's safe, then shut down the portal."

The guard thought for a moment, he pondered for a moment before speaking again. "Fine, but only for 20 seconds, deal?" He stated.

"Fine." Melton said. It wasn't much time, but there was always a chance. The guard hit a few controls on the portal panel, and the portal came to life. Melton nodded and jumped through.

The first thing Melton saw was troops. His heart jumped and then froze. The troops pointed their guns at him, but then pointed down.

"He's not a hostile!" The troops said. Melton tilted his head and looked over the soldiers. They looked strangely familiar, as if they have visited before…

Then it struck him. They were Cornerian troops! They have been to the Kingdom before, but they were here now!

"Why are you here?" Melton said in excitement.

"We were here to liberate the Mushroom Kingdom, which we have succeeded on. By the way, what'sâ€â€Â"

"Hold that thought." Melton interrupted. He stepped back into the portal. As soon as he saw the guard he gave thumbs up and smiled brightly.

"Huh?" The guard said, hand on the power button.

"The Mushroom Kingdom has been liberated! It's safe to keep the portal on!" Melton said, jumping up and down.

"What?" The guard said. The Cornerian troop that talked to Melton first came through the portal. The guard put his hand to his sword, but Melton quickly explained.

"It's ok! He's with us, he's friendly!" He shouted excitement as took over him. The two soldiers eyed each other, and then went at ease.

"Is it true?" The guard asked.

The Cornerian troop nodded. "Yes, it's true. The Mushroom Kingdom has been liberated."

Melton cheered loudly, and jumped back through the portal with anticipation.

 

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 18
Reunion in Twilight and day[/size][/align]

Zelda and Link stepped onto the ground of the Twilight Realm. Link's face was still shining bright as he saw the familiar sight of the temples. He looked back at his Master Sword, and saw it glowing a bright gold, or at least, a small section that he had unsheathed. He looked over at Princess Zelda, he wondered what her possession was that allowed her to stay in Twilight. He wondered that since he saw her for the first time as a wolf.

Immediately Twilians started to gather around the two Hylians. It wasn't long before Midna would learn of their presence. Although Reco was the main reason they were in the Twilight Realm, Midna seem to be the only thing on his mind. Together, Zelda and Link headed towards the temple. Making their way through the curious Twilians, they walked, keeping an eye out for Reco. It seemed strange though, and the thought hit both of their minds, but the temples seemed damaged, as if they had been through battle.

"Do you think…" Zelda started. "That the enemy has been here?" Link looked at the damage in the buildings again, squinted, then looked at the Twilians.

"True, if they were here, I don't think the Twilians would be so quick to be in the streets."

* * *

The message played again and again in Reco's mind.

<Message Intercepted>
<View Message>

<Incoming Message>

<Subject>
Assault Team Ready
<Date>
July 13, 2956 Standard LUT
<Time>
1434 hours SZT
<From>
Capt. Marcus Gelmex
SSA Destroyer Shadow Caster

This Message is encrypted, use your Shadow Code Crack Program to view full message.

Rayne,

The Shadow Caster is fully online, and its weapon, ï´ï¨ïÂ¥ïÂÂΕƒïÂÂĕ¡ï³ï´ïÂÂ¥ï²ïÂÂ…ï­ï©ï´ï´ïÂÂ¥ï²ï©ï³ï¦ï©ï®ï©ï³ï¨ïÂÂ¥ï¤ïÂÂâ€â€ÃƒÂ¯Ã‚ÂÂ¥ take head to your call for assistance in raiding the Great Fox, and plan to take 439 back ï©ï®ï´ï¯ï¯ïµï²ï§ï²ï¡ï³ï°ï¡ï®ï¤ïµï³ïÂ¥ï¨ï©ï­ï´ï¯ï´ïµï²ï® the tide of this war in our favor. We will attack on the ï´ï¨ï¨ï¯ïµï²ï³ SZT. I strongly suggest that you devise a top quality boarding party to capture 439, and destroy the Great Fox andï©ï®ï£ï¡ï³ïÂ¥ï´ï¨ï©ï³ï§ïÂÂ¥ï´ï³ï©ï®ï´ïÂÂ¥ï²ï£ïÂÂ¥ï°ï´ïÂÂ¥ï¤ï¨ï¡ï¶ïÂ¥ï¡ï³ï°ï¡ï£ïÂ¥ï£ï²ï¡ï¦ï´ï©ï®ï´ïÂÂ¥ï²ï£ïÂÂ¥ï°ï´ï©ï¯ï®ï´ïÂÂ¥ï¡ï­ï²ïÂÂ¥ï¡ï¤ï¹ï´ï¯ï£ï¡ï°ï´ïµï²ïÂ¥ï©ï®ï£ï¡ï³ïÂ¥ï¨ïÂ¥ï´ï²ï©ïÂÂ¥ï³ï´ï¯ïÂÂ¥ï³ï£ï¡ï°ïÂÂÂ¥. Once we have 439 in custody, we will destroy the Mushroom Kingdom planet, making the planet less of a threat to us and severely pulling the odds on our side.

Due to the recent events on the Broken Hammer and the Spirit Hammer, all security protocols have been elevated to Code Echo. Keep ï²ï¡ï¤ï¡ï²ï³ï¯ï®ï¡ï´ï¡ï•¬ï´ï©ï­ïÂÂ¥ï³ï¡ï®ï¤ï¯ï®ï•¹ïµï³ïÂÂÂ¥ SSA Handshake Protocols for communication. If there is anything done that violates Code Echo protocols, there will be severe punishment.

Captain Gelmex
<End Message>

Scratching the bandage that stuck to his arm, Reco thought about the message, wondering what the encrypted parts were. It was all too obvious that the SSA was out to get him. For the most part, Reco was annoyed at the fact that he was always referred to as a tool, and not a person. It made him wonder if all of his friends referred to him as a "tool" too.

* * *

Zelda and Link made it to the palace that Midna lived in, as told by a Twilian. As soon as they went through the large doors, they saw Midna, and several holes, burns, and holes in the wall.

Link ran up to Midna and gave her a warm hug, they haven't seen each other in about a year or two, yet their bond with each other was strong. Zelda wanted to get to matters, but allowed the two to have a time of reunion. After about a minute, Link and Midna finally separated.

"It's been too long, Link." Midna said, lightly punching the hero on the shoulder. They exchanged smiles when Zelda decided to speak.

"I know I may be interrupting, but I need to get answers." The princess said in the most possibly calm way. The Princess of Twilight looked over Link's shoulder to see her, flinched a little and step towards Zelda, her face leveled out to a serious look.

Midna sighed "If you're wondering, yes, we were attacked." She said, looking up at the damage in the palace. "Most likely by something that has attacked other places, from the looks of it."

"Yes, they have attacked other places." Zelda replied, "We didn't know they were here already. Are they still here?"

"No, they left once they took this short, round guy. He's actually the one who saved me, and most likely, the entire realm. The only strange thing was he was glowing. I wished I could've saved him." Princess Midna explained,

Link and Zelda groaned, mainly the one reason they had come here just went to waste, and, if the situation was still true, all hope was lost.

* * *

Reco walked by the briefing room, Fox was inside, talking to the Cornerian generals to see if they could devise a plan to counter the SSA assault. It was going to be hard when you didn't know when they would attack, or how on that matter. Slippy was still trying to decrypt the message, but the SSA has come up with their own coding and decoding program.

Reco stepped into the bridge. ROB and Slippy were the only ones their, with ROB doing…what he does, and Slippy decrypting the message. There was a little bit of tension when everybody knew that an attack would be happening any moment. Falco was out flying around in his Arwing, showing himself in front of the front display every now and then. Krystal was…somewhere, Reco really didn't know what she did when she wasn't around.

Reco sat in a chair and stared into space. It was once again another boring time. Normally, he would be flying his Arwing around for fun, or trying to out-pilot Falco, but since they intercepted the message, he was restricted from all outside activity. There was nothing to do in the Arwing, for as big as the ship was, there was no training room…yet. It was under construction. For the most part, the Star Fox crew wasn't at home in their base, but in action elsewhere from saving the galaxy from an intergalactic enemy to a town from a severe storm.

A beeping sound started pulsing from the radar. It was a small object, most likely a transportation vehicle.

"Cornerian transportation vehicle spotted on radar." ROB, once again, stated the obvious. "Opening hangar doors."

Reco got out of his chair and ran down the hall towards the hangar. As he ran, he saw Krystal come out of a room and join him. Fox and Slippy stayed behind to finish their work. As soon as the two made to the hangar, they looked through the airlock windows to see Falco's Arwing and a transportation cruiser fly into the loading bay. As soon as the ships were safely landed, the hangar bay shut and the loading bay pressurized.

As soon as the airlock door opened, Reco walked inside to meet the passengers of the transport. A few Cornerian troops stepped out, followed by a face Reco never thought he would see again.

Melton stepped off of the ramp and was gazing around the hangar. As soon as Reco's and Melton's eyes met, they ran to meet each other.

"Melton!" Reco cried out, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Me either!" Melton cried back. The two friends stopped in front of each other and beamed to see each other after such a long time. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Twilight Realm!" Melton asked.

"A lot happened since then." Reco said. He told the story of him being captured by the SSA, then being rescued by Star Fox. Melton couldn't believe what Reco had been through.

"I wish I was with you, man." Melton said.

"No, you don't, trust me." Reco said, closing his eyes and remembering the pain of being tortured, and losing family.

Reco forced the bad memories to the back of his head. There was a lot to tell his friend, and a lot that needed to be explained.

 

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 19
Turning Point[/size][/align]

Rayne sat in his chair in his quarters. He rubbed his head in thought of what he should do. Ever since there was a plan set up to attack the Great Fox, something strange has been happening. Every now and then a blip would appear on the radar, and then disappear. Rayne had put the Black Garment into high alert. Somebody was watching them, and Rayne wanted to know who. Maybe it was the squad that took out the Broken Hammer and the Spirit Hammer, maybe there were two squads. He couldn't get over the fact that these "squads" took out two high-ranking cruisers, and with no casualties. The SSA looked they were caught with their pants down.

It was 0000 LUT. Rayne felt drowsy, having been up for 4 straight days, the adrenaline patches weren't working the way they used to. Rayne shook his head, trying to shake of some of the sleepiness. He then got up and left his quarters. He tried to walk as diligently as he could as soldiers for the SSA walked about, performing tasks to get ready for the big day. Sometimes Rayne missed the days he was an SSA soldier. His mask and helmet hid his expressions, which also shot fear into the eyes of those he killed. Now having his face exposed made it seem that he could look weaker, especially when he was tired the way he is now.

Rayne looked over his uniform as he walked. The sleek, slender gray long sleeve shirt, decorated finely with all of his ranks, ribbons, and other various rewards. His Senior Master Sergeant rank seemed to shine greatly in the light, as its nice, dark blue wings reached out, ten black strips stacked up on the gray shield, with two gold swords crossing the center. Rayne was proud of his rank but made him feel…old. His freshly dry-cleaned slacks held his beret in his belt, with the belt being held together by a fine gold buckle. To finish it off his shoes shone like the stars as he saw his face reflected upon its surface.

Rayne stopped by the cafeteria and saw that the coffee machine for higher ranks was working again. This made him happy because he was tired of drinking the sludge from the soldier's coffee machine. Rayne took a mug from the counter, one specially made for him, and poured the dark Mediterranean espresso mix into his mug, and then he mixed in some creamer and took a sip. It was like heaven in a mug to him. He smiled brightly and continued his journey to the bridge, with a jolt of energy, and a mug full of his favorite coffee.

The halls were bustling while members of the SSA scattered about, getting weapons ready, or repairing the ail leak in sector 34B. Some soldiers saluted while they walked or ran by, some of them ignored him. Rayne didn't mind the failure to follow through regulations, if they were distracted by their job, then that means they were doing well. Rayne took another sip from his mug as he passed the training room in sector 78A. Soldiers and officers were hard at work lifting weights and fighting in the virtual war zone simulator. For once, the ship looked like it was getting something accomplished.

The bridge finally came into view. There was scattered action however, instead of the smooth-running operations to keep the ship going straight.

"What's going on Captain?" Rayne asked.

Captain Luke Fuller stepped out of the crowd and to Rayne.

"Sergeant, our probes en route to the Great Fox has picked up reports of a solar flare. Our probes were…destroyed, but the good news is that the Great Fox got caught in the flare. Right now, we're trying to shift course to avoid the stretch of the flare." The Captain finished, breathing in.

"Good. Continue, I was just curious." Rayne replied

Rayne stepped out. He checked his watch: 0036. Rayne yawned once again and took another sip of coffee…empty. Rayne cursed to himself, and headed back to his quarters. He needed to catch some sleep if he wanted to be on full alert when the attack on the Great Fox began.

 

[Kirby]

[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 20
Exile[/size][/align]

"How did we let this happen!?!?" Fox yelled as he ran through the halls of the battered Great Fox. The place was a mess. The impact from the solar flare took a toll on the battleship as it seemed to sit in shambles in the middle of space. Reco ran through the halls, along with everyone else, trying to douse fires, fix electrical surges, and patch up possible breaches in the hull. The Great Fox went into chaos.

Reco pulled the pin on a fire extinguisher and pushed the trigger, foam shot out into the fire the enveloped his quarters. Melton stood behind him and chucked an ice grenade to help sustain the flames. Flames plumed over the two and splashed heat across their body. The flames began to shrink more and more, and finally went out as Melton threw another ice grenade. Reco took a look into his quarters; there wasn't really much of a room left. The bed was charred, desk went to ashes, it was all gone.

It didn't matter much though, he was leaving today, and Melton was going with him.

Reco checked his watch: 1:30pm. He needed to be gone by 1:30. He made a motion to his friend and walked down the hall. The hall became dark, so Melton and Reco turned on their flashlight to continue. While they were walking, a large noise reverberated through the halls, and then the gravity gave out

"The gravity sustaining generator gave out guys." Slippy said through the watch comm., obviously.

"What section is it in?" Reco said back into the watch. He looked up at the sign above them: Section B12, Section B13->, Section C^.

"Section C2. Be careful, there's an air leak in section C4." Slippy responded.

Reco shined his light back to Melton, he was upside down.

"Let's get to that section, Melton." Reco said to him.

"Alright, right behind you." Melton responded.

They both pushed on an object behind them to move forward. The hall seemed to turn into a tube as it felt like they were falling. The lights have been out for about 30 minutes now, and the halls felt like one of those scary movie scenarios. Section C came into as Reco shined his flashlight on the ceiling sign. Debris of different objects floated around in the halls now, and it became harder to push through the junk. It also seemed harder to breath in these halls since the air was slowly being sucked.

Reco and Melton finally came across Section C. By this time it was really hard to breath, it would be too dangerous to stay for long. The generator room stood directly below the sign, and seemed to be the only place on the Great Fox with emergency lights. Oh well, better here then no where.

"Alright, Slippy, we're at the generator room." Reco said into the watch comm.

"Good," Slippy started. "Now look for the blue generator."

Reco looked around. You could expect for the 10 generators that were in here, there would be a lot of noise but only 1 generatorâ€â€Âthe backup generatorâ€â€Âwas actually running, the room was next to silent. Reco looked around with his flashlight to try to find the generator, but Melton found it first when his flashlight revealed the blue generator. Both of them floated over to the generator to see a few wires out of place.

"It's just a few disconnected wires, we're on it, Slippy." Reco confirmed.

"Alright, just match the colors and you'll get the power." Slippy explained.

Melton and Reco went to work connecting wires. It was like an easy matching game. Blue wire went to blue wire, black to black, red to red, the same process for every color in the rainbow and more. Soon enough, all of the wires were twisted properly together, but the power remained off. A few sparks flew on Melton, and he spun around scared, Reco stuck his hand out to stop him from a never ending spin.

"You're not going to die, Melton." Reco said under his breath. Melton looked over to him and chuckled.

"Yea, I know…that just kinda…made me jump." Melton replied. He was quick to change the subject. "Why is there still no power to this?"

"I don't know…maybe theirs a wire still out of place. Let's find out." Reco gestured back to the generators and dug their heads into the wiring, there wasn't any wire disconnected. Reco turned upside down and looked behind the generator to see if it was still plugged into an energy source. At that moment, a hammer floated past Melton's head. He grabbed it and looked back at the generator.

"I wonder…" Melton mumbled. He squinted at the generator, and gave it a solid blow with the hammer. Reco jumped back up, still upside down and glared at Melton. Before he could say anything, the generator gave a light purr, and then gradually built up to its mighty roar. The generator came back to life, Melton landed on his feet, Reco landed on his head.

"Sorry about that…I…just…followed a hunch." Melton chuckled. Reco groaned and stood up.

"Alright, just tell me next time, ok?" Reco said.

"Yea." Melton quietly replied. The two walked out of the room and into the dark hall. Reco checked his watch: 1:59. Great, not much time to get ready now.

"The generator is back up, Slippy, what do want us to do now?" Reco said into his watch comm., hoping he could just get ready to go.

"…Yea? He can?" Slippy said, he wasn't up to the comm. link; someone else was talking to him. "Pack your things, Reco, you need to get out of here."

"Roger." Reco replied. He checked his watch again: 2:00p.m.

"Let's get ready to get out of here, Melton." Reco said over to his friend. Melton nodded, and they both headed towards the hangar. It seemed like 5 seconds before Slippy was screaming of the comm. link.

"Enemies inbound! There are a lot of them! Boarding Party! Hang on!" Slippy screeched. Upon reaction, Reco was on the floor. Melton followed the action a split second later.

There was a large clanging noise, and the Great Fox shook, then another, then another. There were 6 different times that the Great Fox was boarded by the Shadow Sword Army. Reco and Melton stood up again and ran.

"They must be coming after you Reco! Get to the Hangar, and get out of here! This is your priority!" Fox said over the comm. link. He already sounded like he was being fired upon. Reco and Melton wasted no time; they ran as fast as they could.

They took a turn at section C3 to avoid losing to air and made another turn in section E14. At E16 they heard several footsteps clattering in the halls. Reco looked to the side and saw a maintenance door. He punched in the code to open the door and jumped inside, dragging Melton with him. He shut the door and looked at the map on the right wall. It showed directions to the hangar, and all the possible routes to get there. He analyzed the map, looking for the shortest route, there were so many lines that marked paths that it hard to see which lead to where. Finally he saw a line that went from their door to hangar, with almost no turns.

"We'll take this route," Reco pointed to the path on the map, "and follow it to the hangar. Once we're there, we'll get out using the modified Arwing Slippy prepared for us."

Melton observed the map and saw the path Reco pointed out.

"Aren't we going to help Fox and the others?" Melton asked.

Reco looked to his friend. There was a look of concern, obviously to the rest of the Star Fox crew. He wanted to stay, but Fox gave him his orders, and honestly, escaping may draw the SSA from the Great Fox.

"I wish we could…" Reco finally said, "But we have orders, and we may be helping this way."

Melton sighed, but didn't fight about it. He was pretty good at agreeing.

Reco and Melton continued their journey down the twisting halls of the Maintenance Section. Dark red lights helped them in not getting lost, or hitting a wall. Every now and then, there would be footsteps, then some gunfire. But it all happened outside the Maintenance Section. The SSA most likely was not aware of it. Sometimes another map would be on the wall, and Reco would verify that they were following the right path. Soon enough, the door to the Hangar came to view.

"Here it is." Melton pointed out. The two approached the door. Reco drew the K1C3R 52 from his backpack.

"I'll go first, and clear the room. Once I clear it, you go straight for the Arwing, ok?" Reco said.

Melton took a moment to register the thought. "Alright, go ahead. Be careful, alright?" Melton's face expressed loud and clear: concern, worry, fear.

Reco nodded. He pressed the button to open the door. It revealed a dark room. Lights were out, and a few places were sparking out. With the K1C3R 52 at aim, he surveyed the room for a possible ambush. There weren't any apparent signs of SSA soldiers. Reco looked over and saw the entrance to the door in Lockdown state. Did Slippy do that? Doesn't matter, it bought them time.

"It's clear Melton! Let's go!" Reco shouted to Melton. He nodded and came running. Behind Reco was the modified Arwing. It had a storage compartment underneath to hold Melton and some other supplies. There was a large engine attachment allowing the Arwing to enter Light Speed for a short amount of time. Just enough to safely get the planet they wanted to find refuge in. Some added shield generators were placed on the wings to give Reco and Melton more protection on their escape. The only downside was the fact that some weapons were sacrificed for the shield generator.

Melton ran past the entrance to the hangar when it exploded. Melton was tossed away from the blast and on the door. He struggled to get up as the SSA started filing into the room. Reco shouted and fired his gun. It wasn't much help as the gun was only close range. A soldier stumbled but got up on his feet and walked towards Melton. Reco continued to fire hoping to stop the soldiers. After a few shots the clip was empty. Reco dropped his gun beside him and kicked a cart holding tools on its side for cover. He peeked around the side of the cart and fire a bolt of light to try to hit the soldier, but missed. Reco saw Melton get on his back to face the soldier standing above him. Reco cried out and tried to fire more shots of light, but was forced behind cover from suppressing fire.

Another explosion came from the hangar entrance. Fox, Falco, and Krystal stood at the entrance, firing their weapons. Most of the soldiers focused on the doorway and returned fire. Reco looked back to Melton and the SSA soldier standing next to him. Melton was now facing Reco, with a tear running down his face. The soldier had his sidearm drawn and pointing at Melton's head. Reco ran towards Melton. He heard Melton utter his last words:

"Take care of yourself."

The gunshot was etched into Reco's mind. His friend fell limp on the floor. A pool of blood drowned the body. Reco felt all of his emotions rush. His sight went fuzzy, and then rage started to flood into his veins.

Reco's eyes burst with lightning. His hands glowed and room lit. Everybody in the room flinched at Reco's reaction. The Star Fox team knew what to do and dove out of the room. Reco drew a sword from nothing made of pure light. He swung at the soldiers with force and they vanished. Reco looked to the soldier that killed his friend, and approached him. The soldier showed no expression, but moved backwards in fear as Reco approached him. As Reco drew closer, he drew another sword of light from him. He leapt through the air, and with a few quick movements, the soldier fell apart. Reco stood over the pieces of the soldier and then turned to his Melton. He calmed down and the lighting from his eyes ceased. He still wanted to take Melton. He didn't deserve to lay here. Reco picked him up and carried him to the storage compartment of the Arwing. He gently place Melton down and looked at him. His eyes were still open. Reco closed his eyes and climbed into the Arwing. He closed the cockpit and the storage compartment. The airlock closed in the Hangar. Fox, Krystal and Falco looked out the window of the door. The last they saw of Reco was him bolting out of the Hangar and into space.

Enemy fighters were immediately all over him. Reco didn't focus on them though; he only focused on getting him and Melton out. The shield generators were too powerful for the attacks that the SSA fighters were dealing. Reco had a tear running down his eye as he flew onward. His emotions were so mixed that he couldn't even feel the shaking of lasers hitting the ship. He waited until he was far enough away from the Great Fox, and pressed the button on the controls for the Arwing.

The Arwing, along with Reco and Melton, vanished. The SSA ships around Reco exploded from the force of the Arwing's engines.

Reco wouldn't be seen for years to come.


[align=center][size=x-large]Epilogue[/size][/align]

Rayne waited impatiently for their reports about the Light Caster's capture. He sat at his desk, fiddling with anything he could get his hands on. It's been an hour since the operation started too long, in his opinion. By this time, he has already gone through 3 cups of coffee. Constantly waiting for updates, keeping his eyes focused on the computer screen.

One minute later, a soldier knocked on the door to his quarters. He invited the soldier in. In silence, the SSA handed Rayne a piece of paper, and silently walked out. Rayne curiously looked at the soldier as he stepped out. He then looked at the paper. He read in fury as he came across the words "Mission Failure. 439 has escaped." Rayne ripped the paper in two and slammed his hands on the desk.

Little was he aware that the SSA soldier that handed him the paper was actually a spy for the Mushroom Kingdom.

 

[Kirby]

That's it! I hope you enjoyed it! I'll post the sequel once I'm done writing it and putting it on the Nsider forum.

Tell me what you thought about it!